[Harp-L] Countdown to SPAH

["Mick Zaklan" <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>]

   Anybody still sitting on the fence about going to the SPAH convention
ought to just make the trip.  Especially if you're living on the East Coast
or in the Midwest.  If I'm not mistaken; next year's gathering is in
Sacramento, California.  For a guy like me who lives near Chicago; most
conventions in the past have only been a tank or two of gas away from my
doorstep.  No telling what an airline ticket is going to run next year.  I
probably will have to sit out the next one, which depresses the heck out of
me.  All the more reason to definitely get down to St. Louis this month.
   When I think about the annual convention; I often think about the late
guitarist Chris Jones.  One of the most talented musicians to ever play on a
SPAH stage.  I recall Chris telling an audience something to the effect of:
"you people don't know how good you have it with this thing (the harmonica
convention), other instruments just don't do this".  Yeah, I know tuba
players get together and fiddlers have contests; but you'd be hard-pressed
to find the camaraderie and information-sharing that goes on at harmonica
convention.  I remember Jelly Roll Johnson, who makes his living playing the
harmonica, explaining to me why he comes to conventions every year at his
own expense.  "I always learn something new; there's always somebody with
an approach or idea I hadn't thought of ".  Or Buzz Krantz telling me one of
his favorite things is that each year a new guy shows up who nobody ever
heard of and winds up being better than most of the paid entertainment.